This is a miscellaneous show where acts from all the sites were mixed up.

Good ActsThe Belly Dancing Duo 2 females age 32-26 -Sharon and Howie agree they have "T & T", timing and talent in their fast-paced solo accompanied by bongos. Howie says oozing and overflowing with talent. Piers said he could have watched that for months.

Rick Smith Jr., Card Thrower age 29 - world record holder in throwing playing cards, with Nick as his assistant holding celery. His speed was impressive as he made 2 clean cuts. He throws 92 miles per hour.

Phil Trau, male age 74 -tap dancer to the tune "Blackbird", who did a split causing Piers to take back his "x". Howie claimed to be dazzled. Sharon says he's "sexy Phil."

Luigi Seno, male age 20 - singer/guitarist singing a pop song that I am not familiar with (but the audience was). Nick said "that's talent" and he was right. Howie said "you are a great entertainer." Piers said "you've got this charm about you" and "he's a natural performer."

Arthur Nakane, male age 73 - one-man band that takes 3 hours to set up his instruments. He sings, plays guitar, has a keyboard somewhere and uses his feet to play a bass instrument. He is not a very good singer, but his act is very impressive. Sharon said entertaining. Howie voted no. Piers said he is not a great musician, but for sheer dedication and hard work he is sending him to Las Vegas.

Not Ready for Prime Time Acts

Jimmy Dinh, male age 36 - standup comedian who is so slow-paced that he got buzzed off. Howie tells him to be himself rather than playing another character. Piers says he is saying yes to make Jimmy feel better after Sharon and Howie had assured Jimmy of not going through. Sharon then called Piers an asshole.

Clownvis, Singing Clown age 28 - he pretends to be Elvis with his down-home approach; he actually has a decent voice but his choice of a song was Old McDonald had a Farm. He is really a Rodney Dangerfield style insult comic. He was joking around about Ozzie Osbourne, which prompted Sharon to tell him in no uncertain terms that "nobody disrespects my husband."

Sumo Champs, 4 male, 1 remale ages 25-39 - 3 sumo wrestlers with two assistants. The judges asked "what is the point?" I rather enjoy seeing sumo wrestling, not exactly a common performance in the U.S.

Frequent Flyers Productions, 5 females ages 21-52 - aerialists who hung upside down. Howie stated that there "wasn't a move I couldn't do," so the women challenged Howie to do it. He did successfully and then voted them off.

There was an opportunity to vote for 40 acts on www.youtube.com/agt but it had to be done by July 4 (so I missed out). I bet we will see the highest vote getters very soon, like in a special show tonight.

First, let us be clear that I have not looked at all at last night's episode of AGT5, which is the first of the Las Vegas rounds. What I have done is to go back to episode 1 through 10 and make decisions on which acts I think are superior. I have grouped them by type, as that is the way that the Judges (although not the audience) makes comparative judgments.

The YouTube episode of GT5 will be August 10, but the voting for it closed July 4. I have listened to and looked at all 40 of the displayed videos at www.youtube.com/agt and you should too. Here are my choices for the best of these acts in the order I saw them:

Each one of these acts is good enough in my opinion to be equivalent to the live acts that made it to the second round. However, it is my understanding that NBC is going to use the vote on these acts to select only one act to be placed into the competition as of August 10.

I think the best two were the Talent Pup old man and Tom Stevens and I pick Tom Stevens as the best of the best from the You tube auditions.

For this season, the 88 acts that advanced to compete in Las Vegas, were classified as members of any of three groups. Those in "Group A", referred to as the "the judges' favorites" received a chance to perform on the first day of this stage of competition for any of an open 38 slots, in an attempt to advance on to compete in the live shows. The audition performances of those that were placed in "Group B" of standbys, the second group, were not seen by the judges as appealing as those of the members of "Group A", and whether or not the "Group B" members receive a chance to attempt to advance to the live shows depends on the performance of the acts in "Group A". In this season, there are eleven places remaining for those in the Top 48 for the members of "Group B" to compete for. The audition performances of the third set of acts, "Group C", 10 that were seen by the judges as superior to those in the other two groups and sent straight to Hollywood, bypassing any performances in. Members of this group moved on to compete in the live shows automatically.

Group C is composed of:

Arc AttackThe Bell Dancing Duo Kaya and Sadie (male judges’ favorite, but will America be voting for them?)Cheer SF (another male judges’favorite)Da’ Maniacs (this is one of the 3 best dance troupe in AGT5?)Fighting GravityFuture FunkHaspop (huh?)Polina Volchek (I actually believe it was her talent that caught the judges’ eyes)South Philly Vikings (huh?; the rowdy reputation of Mummers precedes them)Strikers All Stars

I think NBC/AGT5 did a very poor job of identifying the acts as they were performing. If you had memorized all 78 acts performing then no problem, but for real people some graphics listing the name of the act would have been really helpful. So I will get off my soapbox and here we go with the 50 Group A acts to the best of my ability to track them:

Magic Acts Kung Fu Heroes – their usual ferocityThe Danger Committee – they made no impression on meWilliam Scott Anderson, the Army soldier magician - does a well-known trick where he appears to split his own body in two; it's disappointing because it’s commonMichael Grasso does some sleight of hand to "Breathe" by Telepopmusik – comments were slick, but not wowMurray Sawchuck – brings a car onto the stage with an illusionChipps Cooley – he tries comedy illusions and I like him

Acrobatic ActsAscenDance – I thought this act was classy once again, but how many different rock walls can you climb?Aerialists Michael and Asti – it looked like he could not finish the act to conclusion to prevent an accidentRudy – handstands and slow release from them on top of a female assistant’s back

Male “Classical” SingersPrince Poppycock - he sang an aria from Figaro despite not feeling well due to an infection; Piers said it affected his voice a lot and PP agreedHannibal Means – singing an aria in a silly rooster costume (symbol of a new day)Carlos Aponte Jr. – singing Man of La Mancha, he did not live up to the promise of his preliminary round performance

DancersHot Shot Tap Dancers – one of the males screwed up and missed the routineStudio One Young Beast Society - Hip hop groupMona Sampah Dance Company – Bollwood-style Indian dance group; very energeticFemale dancer who played the violin (not that well in my estimation)Wreckless – they did wellStreet Dance Hip Hop style Group from LA - – they performed really well in my view but were eliminated by the judges

Female SingersLindsey Stirling – her performance did not register in my memoryAlice Tan Riley - “Rolling on the River” but not enough for me to remember her nameApril Lane – her performance did not register in my memoryDeborah Romer – she has more of a smile on her face and if she was nervous it did not show; her voice is quite good singing a melancholy songMary Ellen – she started by calling Howie “Holly” so you know it’s not going to go well; those expectations were met; what was she doing in the Las Vegas round?; she had to be dragged off the stage by “Holly” after about 10 minutes of the same song repeated; the judges made a major mistake in not taking someone with talent to allow Mary Ellen to the next round

KidsSimeon Mulder – classical pianist with focus on costumesLil Chris – “Stand By Me”Connor George – kite flyerCJ Dippa – rapper; I did not find it that goodAnna and Patryk – dancers did well enough to move ahead

Howie complained about judging the winners with so much talent present. Piers said “Welcome to the real world.”

ComicsDougie – he had some funny beard jokes, but not uproarious

Novelty ActsMaricar - female painter; her competitors called her act “incredibly clever”; I see it as the most original act in AGT5Dog act – good but not that different from earlier performanceLariat rope guy – ho, humJuggler – he dropped a ball that was supposed to go into his mouthArthur Makane (one man band) – I thought his poor singing ruined an otherwise good performanceSally Cohn (hand whistler) – the whole idea of having a hand whistler get into this round was pretty weird; she performs “Over the Rainbow” quite well, but I am not interested in seeing her act any more times

Male Vocalists?- he was asked if he thought he had blown itTaylor Matthews – singer/guitarist as OKMichael Grimm – singer/guitarist; I do not like his choice of song style and he overran the time limit

BandStrange Familiar – I do not remember their performance at all, but they are going on

This episode deals with the 28 acts in group B which were competing for 11 available positions. The hyperbole was thick as the other groups in each category watched their competitors perform, commented and attempted to underscore the superiority of their own performances. The editors of AGT5 generally do a good job, but why do they subject us to this drivel? Don’t they have real material to show us?

Juvenile Dance Acts were:Northwest Acro and Dance – juvenile female hip hop group looked just OK to me, but the judges are sending them to HollywoodRNG female juvenile dancers – I like them better than the judged; they are not going on.

Singing Groups were:NU Covenant – they sang well and made itGentlemen from NUCO – I don’t remember themNew Directions – it was heart-wrenching to watch this group get the news they would not go forwardChristina and Ali (sisters with cystic fibrosis) – I don’t think they have the level of talent needed but they have sentimental power going for them and made it to the next round

Novelty Acts were:Erin Barylski – body paints a beach sceneJuggler – drops a racketBalloon popper – does a poor jobRick Smith Jr., who throws playing cards at high speed to break balloons; he missed at least twice on this performance, pretty much sealing his fate.Ronith – he got the judges convulsing with hysterical laughter with his body moves and voices; I think he is very talented and very funny

MusiciansHarmonix – was only OK tonight, which is not good enough to move forwardAirpocalypse – I strongly disagreed with the judges placing them in this category when they should have been in the Category C; anyway, I got to see them perform again and they are excellent

Male SingersNathaniel Kenyon – I didn’t see why he was chosen; he was mediocre in my opinion

Circus ActsRick Smith Jr. got the first of 2 balloons set up over the side of the judges’ stand, but he missed 3 straight after that.

Musical Acts? - is shown to be her screaming and him doing simple guitarHarmonix – I like this group but they were not as good as their preliminary round performanceAirpocalypse – this air guitar group, which claims to have transcended instruments, is very entertainingGentlemen from NUCO – they were a cipherIron Horse – they did not stand out in my mind

Solo Male SingersPaul Safy Jr. – he did not register for me at all, but he is going to HollywoodLuigi Seno – he did OK in a highly competitive categoryNathaniel Kenyon - Howie told him it’s the toughest category (so don’t be disappointed if you don’t make it) but he did end up making it

The judge now made their decisions within each category and by comparing across categories. Piers asked his fellow judges to “not let your heart rule your head,” which Sharon in particular tends to do. The final 11 choices were:

The mathematics of the groupings showed that 27 of 50 Group A acts made it, or 54%. For Group B acts, 11 of 28 acts, or 39% made it. That isn’t a terrible penalty for being classified in the standby group.

I hear that the next round will be composed of 4 parts, with 12 acts competing in each one.

It's AGT5 Hollywood (quarterfinal) round, part 1, 12 acts of which only 4 will survive to the semfinals. NBC messed up the sound system for the first 30 seconds, so NIck Cannon was talking but nobody other than the live audience could hear what he said. It wouldn't make any difference anyway. Most of the pre-performance stuff is just hype anyway. These are live performances and the public gets to vote during the 2 hours succeeding the end of the show (until 1am here in the Eastern time zone). Howie offered his advice to the acts: "Just do It." Acts can be forced to stop performing if they get 3 judge Xs, but the public can still vote for them (although I cannot imagine that ever happening since these judges are mostly rational). The motto of all following rounds is "Step It Up" meaning do something new, different and better. That works to give the 10 Group C acts (those who did not have to perform in Las Vegas) a big edge, since they have one less new performance to create and develop. I will use a letter grading system with A+ my best possible score. I will offer my personal comments before those of the judges. So here it is:

NOTE- I am putting up the structure now so I do not lose it (that has happened to me multiple time in the past). I will find in the blanks of the judges' comments ASAP.

Kung Fu Heroes - this act was fresh and daring and cutting edge in the preliminary rounds. What happened to them here? They used real swords and spears and a long hammer but it was lots of motion and just not very entertainingHowie - choreography from the e preliminary round. It's like Power Rangers with no shirts and eye shadow.Piers - not as enthralling as before; too much of a martial arts routine waving swords etc.and not an entertainment routine; I liked you when you were complete lunaticsSharon - liked the endingMy Grade - B

Christina and Ali - they never should have been here to begin with, so I am not surprised that they did not do well on a pop song. They did have nice harmony with the older sister singing thirds above the younger.Howie- There were some notes missed but it doesn't matter, as I love you.Piers - Your singing was second-rate until you got together on the harmony. It was an improvement on your audition.Sharon - I am not going to say anything negative.My Grade - B

Airpocalypse - this group is scintillating to my ears and ears. They added 8 backup dancers to go with the 3 primary performers and from the opening to the slow descent from up top to the stage for the drummer/angel, then picking up the tempo to the end of the performance, it was mesmerizing for me. Excellent!Howie - it is not clear whether air guitar has a place in AGT; you demonstrate how much you can do with absolutely nothing (except hot girls and music).Piers- this was really lip syncing and it was as good as any lip syncing he had ever heard. I will buy your albumSharon - you are great acting and it is great funMy Grade - A

Hot Shot Tap Dancers - in the prior round one of the males missed a difficult part of the routine and thought his mistake had eliminated them, but they were fortunate to get through despite that. The audience is fortunate now, as they are very entertaining with their tap routines. I particularly loved the opening slide routine and their fine synchronization.Howie - that storyline was distracting; it would have been better focus on pure dancePiers - I loved the look and choreography, but it lacks oomph. It was too safe in a comfort zone but you never exploded or caught fire onstage.Sharon - I loved your relaxed style. Your tap routine is current and could motivate more interest in tap dancing.My Grade - A

Paul Safy Jr. - he has a terrific crooner voice but his choice of music is poor. This cost him a spot in the next round, as he cannot get there with this performance.Howie - likes Michael Buble, loved shadow puppets (women dancing behind screens), your ending was cheesyPiers - I like cheese, your voice is fine but you need to relax and let the performance come to you, feel the song and chill out a bitSharon - great tone, but performance was dated and a bit cheesy for a 27 year old; work on deliveryMy Grade - B

Future Funk - this dance duo is cute and adorable and excellent dancers for their age of 10 and 5. They were accompanied by a high-energy rock version of the opening of Beethoven's 5th symphony. However, during the performance the imbalance between what the 10 years old can do and what the 5 year old can do was too obvious, so it's out of balance. Howie - you were talking (the younger one said "Deal I love you."); America will love you and you have talent. YOu can have any women you want.Piers - You have star quality.Sharon - that was sensational and amazing.My Grade - A-

Sally Cohen - the judges loved her singing an obscure melody I am not familiar with, but I did not think her performance was very good. I think there is reason for her to be here because hand whistling is a unique talent, but it should not displace much better vocal and dance and variety acts. I think she may get sympathy votes for being old, but I will be surprised if she makes it to the next round.Howie - unique, quirky, great personalityPiers - that is a fine rendition of that tune, much better than what Nick can do with it. You are a wonderful inspiration. He got her to say hand whistling is music that can be used to entertain.Sharon - asks about her "inner kitty cat"My Grade - B

Nick Pike - this was a huge disappointment. Nick got in as a replacement for the better Trystan and Krystan who had to withdraw for an unknown reason. He had lots of fire, a minimum of torch juggling and lots of motion, but not a coherent interesting act. He gets my lowest score and a ticket home.Howie - what are you? Nick said he is a juggler/acrobat/comedianPiers - America may love it, but I thought it was a shambles; without fire everywhere, only simple juggling and running around Sharon - it was so dangerous (note - this is total b.s.); Piers had told her to set himself on fire for the semis so he did that literallyMy Grade - B-

RNG - I will agree that they earned a spot in the Hollywood rounds, but now it's time for them to go home. Their performance had absolutely no redeeming value; It's just some cute girls age 11 dancing in a choreographed way to music. I found their story line insipid. Give them the hook and my lowest score.Howie - you have a future in dance, but this is not very much talent or a headline act nowPiers - I agree with Howie. Judges are looking for amazing dancing and you are not quite there yet. Keep practicing.Sharon - a good routine is difficult but you did it; I loved it.My Grade - B-

Maricar - this is one of the 2 truly unique acts in this leg of the competition. She painted underwater in a large fish tank, coming up every so often for air. It was barely recognizable as a portrait of Piers, who had given her excellent marks the last round. I expect that we will see a portrait of Howie next round if she makes it since he also gave her very good marks.Howie - I admire the act and admire your terrific pair of lungsPiers - I can watch you forever; it was surreal.Sharon - You have made act very very sexy.My Grade - A-

Fighting Gravity - this is the other of the truly unique acts and I love it. These 12 guys are so talented. I think they may go all the way. They were the only act that received my highest mark.Howie - you are phenomenalPiers - creativity, innovation and uniqueness; it was without doubt the performance of the nightSharon - incredible with unlimited prospects. Blue Man Group, move over.My Grade - A+

Nathaniel Kenyon - he's out of his league here and did not belong in the Hollywood round. He has a nice voice and future potential but he is not ready for prime time. His one appeal is to female teens.Howie - wore a mask because Nathaniel had a cold; Justin Bieber called and he wants his hair back; Nathaniel retorted that "Mr. Clean just called."Piers - we are watching the metamorphosis of a shy young man into a pop starSharon - you have the "It" Factor. I expect you to be back next year.My grade - B

last night NBC gave us the traditional time-wasting results show for this week's 12 acts. The ultimate decision by home audience vote ranked the acts based on "who the performers are (personality, overcoming circumstances)" rather than how they perform. This has led to several miscarriages of justice in past seasons and the audience vote is up to its usual tricks again this season. If you look above you will see that my picks for the top 5 spots based on Tuesday night's performances were:Fighting Gravity AirpocaplypseHot Shot Tap DancersFuture Funk Laricar

So, you can look at the actual choices for the live audience of Christina/Ali, Fighting Gravity and Nathaniel Kenyon as agreeing on one out of the top 3. The 4th group had the #4 and #5 teams of Future Funk and RNG given to the judges to decide and Piers and Howie sent future funk onward.. To me, that is a no-brainer that future Funk was in fact selected for the last spot.

What these voting patterns says to me is that weepy, sentimental performers with a story line like Christina/Ali and Nathaniel Kenyon are what turns the audience on over the superior in my opinion performers like Airpocalypse (controversial due to the status of air guitar but very fine performers) and Hot Shot Tap Dancers. I rated Christina/Ali and Nathaniel Kenyon as medium quality performers with the 5 teams above rated better. Apparently, my tastes are not those of America. I am not amused by the official choices.

12 acts were reduced to 4 remaining last week and the same will happen this week, with the Weekly Results show on Wednesday. Once I discovered which acts were on this week, I immediately recalled my ratings of them in the preliminary and Las Vegas rounds. I expect there 3 acts to excel:Alice Tan RidleyRonith Wreckless

Here are my actual ratings plus judges’ comments on the 12 acts that performed live last night:

Cheer SF – this is a group of post-college-age cheerleaders, mostly. They are not that amazing by current high-level college cheerleading standards, just average for older people struggling to do not-difficult moves. Why were they here in the first place? I did not think they should have been rated in Group C (that happened only because Piers and Howie thought the females were very attractive) and they would not have done made it out of group A or B. Piers and Sharon buzzed them off.Howie – it wasn’t technically amazing cheerleading; this is more like a clubPiers – asked by Nick to explain why he was the first to buzz them, he said no cheerleading act has ever made it on AGT; it was soporific; he said that when his age 50s friends com over and he tries to toss them around, he can’tSharon – age group goes to 52 and that should results in a more sophisticated act with moves never seen before; they did not succeedMy Grade – B- (they are going down)

Alice Tan Ridley – a soul singer whose talent has been passed down to daughter Alicia Keyes. I find it surprising that she has not previously been discovered, as she performs in the NYC subways. Her voice is powerful singing a variation of the “Midnight Train to Georgia.”Howie – You look gorgeous. You sound gorgeous. Your daughter if watching tonight has to feel great pride for you.Piers – You have everything we are looking for.Sharon – I want to be on that train with you. You are the embodiment of “soul.” My Grade – A+ (it was as close to perfection as acts get)

Mona Sampath Dance Company – I have to remind readers of my extreme disappointment when Bollywood dance group Ishaara went down last year, so I doubt that America wants to vote for Bollywood. It’s good, but it just isn’t going to make it.Howie – not as good as previous routine; no “wow” moment this time; there was a wow moment (to which Howie retorts “if Piers can do it, it’s not a wow”)Piers – timing is critical, it has to be perfect; he disagrees with Howie; he wants to hear more “Black eyed Peas” accompanimentSharon – she wants to see some more traditional danceMy Grade – B+ (so nobody is going to anything more of this act)

Iron Horse – identical twins plus a third guy; one more case of my opinion that this is an act that “never should have been here.” Their act was boring; Piers buzzed them quickly.Howie – passion that shows and is fun; focused on tricks but got neither great tricks nor great music; great energy but poor dictionPiers – stage was too big for you tonight; the singer is mediocreSharon – turns music into a spectacle; too many moments; too much time on moves, not enough on diction and singingMy Grade – B- (they will be exiting)

The Strong Man –he said this act would be to “fix Los Angeles’ parking problems.” The strong man method of parking involves rotating a car into a space. If that won’t do it, then he turns over an old car on stage. Piers buzzed him. Nick asked how many stagehands it would take to move that car off the stage? After the break the answer was 13 directly involved by my count, with several more onstage.Howie – it’s amazing and fascinating but is it a show yet and I don’t know what it is?Piers – says tongue in cheek: “I am massively stronger myself; I am waiting for him.” How amazing is this?; Piers did not see him as an entertainer and claimed he has the “personality of an amoeba” (I disagree as I though the Strong Man had a low-key humorous style). Be exciting (Nick said punching Piers in his face would be exciting).Sharon – could have done more interesting things with a huge production.My Grade - B

Ronith – he can act, do standup, do impressions, or be a mime. He chose to impersonate John Wayne, Jim Carey, the Gobernator (Schwarzenegger), Charleston Heston and Sylvester Stallone as Rambo. Piers and Sharon buzzed him. Nick had to step in and end the debate. Ronith stated that he’ll be back, but Piers said he would not.Howie – he got into an argument with Ronith about how he makes him laughPiers – all 30 impressions he has done are all basically the same characterSharon – she was confused about “the Cable Guy” impressionMy Grade - B

Hannibal Means – in an orange costume singing “Circle of Life” with 8 backup dancers, his high baritone voice is really a treat and his laugh is infectious. I was impressed beyond what I expected.Howie – he scares me; human thrill ride that I do not want to ride; what planet are you from?Piers – underneath all the magic is a brilliant singer; I enjoyed itSharon – your voice is amazing and richMy Grade - A

Wreckless – this dance troupe came out with a high energy routine in clown costumesHowie – he wanted to see more of “the street” and “edge”Piers – looking for acts which can fill a big stage; he thinks they didSharon – good doing a highly choreographed act My Grade – A-

Lil Chris – he is a singer who is uncomfortable doing the dance part of his acts, but it’s his voice that has to take him further. I was not impressed. If he was “turning the lights in this place” as Nick stated, it would be as a janitor and not a performerHowie – not your best performancePiers – I agree with Howie. Chris is very talented but nervous but it was not quite there.Sharon – for a 12 year old, you held your own (but so what?)My Grade – B-

AscenDance – Isabel and Ryan have a unique act, which has added 2 new dancers. He did his patented upside down hang up the top of the wall. This act was sheer poetry. I knew they were very good, but this was better than that Howie – “the fact that since last time you were able to have 2 children and put them on the wall that’s really interesting”Piers – this act can be expanded by the number of performers and size of the wall; brilliantSharon – coordination and timing super; excellent, uniqueMy Grade - A

Antonio Restivo – fire, magic and illusions; I find the contortionist part of his act the real heart of it, not the fire or the props. Howie – consummate Las VegasPiers – Sharon – liked the action and his use of time; music sensationalMy Grade - A

Michael Grimm – he is a crooner with limited talent.Howie – you clean up nice, looking more like a start than a country boy. You are my favorite singer because your voice has a lot of soul.Piers – I note the difference. You are a very good singer, one of the best on AGT ever, but not connecting with the audience more.Sharon – Many life experiences are needed to make soul work. connect more with the audience. My Grade – B

The prevarication of Howie Mandel has now been on full view. Nick Cannon puts him under extreme pressure (seconded by Piers) for not being able to make his mind. Howie repeated this egregious behavior before Piers jumped in and summarized the evening with the word “magnificent”, then Howie added “great” before the show was cut off. Stop this drivel, NBC and AGT! Howie never has any trouble making up his mind on comments for each act. His fake put-on is absurd.

So, at the end of the night, who do I think will be going to the semifinals? Here are the acts I rated top-notch:

The big question for me from the first week's quarterfinals is whether the "handsome young man" effect will propel any low-talent acts to finish above higher-talent acts. Last week I thought that Nathaniel Kenyon placed far higher than warranted. Will the same happen to Michael Grimm? And more importantly, will NBC/AGT switch the order for the 4th vs. 5th place deciding votes? We will see on both of them monumental questions. On with the show:

The first announcement of results pits Ronith vs. AscenDance vs. Mona Sampath Dance Company. My ratings were clear, so I think it should go to Ascen Dance. it does.

The second group of results pits CheerSF vs. Alan Tan Ridley vs. Iron Horse. Again, this is no contest and Alan should win easily. She did.

The third group of results pits Michael Grimm vs. the Strong Man vs. Lil Chris. I rated both Michael and Strong Man as B performers and Lil Chris as a B- so none of them should be making it to the semifinal round. MIchael Grimm does, proving once more the voting power of younger females ( see above).

The final group, containing the 4th and 5th place teams, is Antonio Restivo, Wreckless and Hannibal Means.I rated Hannibal and Antonio above Wreckless. Hannibal was dismissed so it was a 2-act race. As I expected, Antonio won. So did Sharon, who got to be the tie-breaking vote this time, and did not string it out to the last second. She acknowledged early in the show that being between Howie and Piers is like being between a rock and a hard place.

So, joining Christina/Ali, Nathaniel Kenyon, Fighting Gravity and Future Funk in the semis is AscenDance, Alice Tan Ridley, Michael Grimm and Antonio Restivo. I got 3 out of 4 in my most congruent with the actual results ever picks.

This is the 3rd of 4 rounds of the quarterfinals in Hollywood. Sharon is so full of hot air tonight that her commentary is ridiculous and needs to be ignored. She wants to make friends, not influence people. Here are comments on the 12 acts:

South Philly Vikings – they cavorted, did spins, had high-energy music and lots of glitz. Count me out. They are going no further.Howie – I think it’s spectacular and fun; it’s amazing what you can do with lightsPiers – he buzzed them because it was infantile, people wearing silly costumes who don’t sing well and don’t dance wellSharon – she started by telling Piers he is insulting; they are blue collar union guys doing really good entertainmentMy Grade – B-

CJDippa – he’s a rappa singing his own rap song with 4 young female dancers supporting him; this act did nothing for me, so I predict he is not going furtherHowie – original with own songs, beat, dancing Piers – no diction but it doesn’t matter; you have stage presence and are a little star; are you in this for the money or the women? (that may be the best lien of the night, as CJ is 11 years old)Sharon – Sharon asked him about how he created the song; brilliant, well done (there’s quite a difference between those two superlatives)My Grade - B

Harmonica Pierre – doing several variations on a classical theme; what is an above-average harmonica player doing in the quarterfinals of AGT5?; the American public which voted him here will now vote him out; he promised to sing the blues if he gets one more roundHowie – fantastic, truly an expert and talent; is harmonica big enough to carry a show; I felt like I was in my doctor’s officePiers – you are the best technical harmonica player I have ever seen after Larry AdlerSharon – stunningMy Grade – B+

Polina Volchek – this was a highly sensual dance/acrobatic act with a rope and without her hoops; I thought it was just OKHowie – hoops, ropes, makeup is all greatPiers – buzzed her because it was boringSharon – as usual, she says only positive things about everybodyMy Grade - B

The Strange Familiar – 2 leads have shared this dream since the 6th grade and added a keyboardist and percussion; she has a great alto voice and he plays guitar; although I don’t like their style of music I thought this act provided great entertainmentHowie – looking for the wow factor but it was familiar and good, but not WOWPiers – 20 seconds were great and the rest mediocre’ wardrobe completely wrong, not a superstar Las Vegas looking actSharon – adores voice but did not like song choice; chorus did not suit your voice; tribute band from the 1980s with a little grungeMy Grade – A-

HASPOP – his arm and body gyrations are certainly original but I never thought he should have been here in the quarterfinalsHowie – that is WOWPiers – best thing they have seen so farSharon – spectacular, you put your own twist on itMy Grade – B+

Luigi Seno – I really disliked his song; it did not give his voice a very good vehicleHowie – lots of times you were flat, worried about guitar playing making singing worsePiers – you’re a good season but you don’t compare well to this season’s brilliant singersSharon – anyone can win but you started with an out of tune guitar; I have seen you better than your performance tonightMy Grade – B-

Chipps Cooney – his claim of “that’s great magic” is ludicrous; I admire his aim to just have fun; Piers has said he’s not funny and not talented; Howie his character is a bad magician and I wish America would get that; tonight he did a strip routine with 6 hot female dancers; all 3 buzzed himHowie – I loved Sad Sack magician, so why did you give that character up?; you should have stuck with that; you threw it away tonightPiers – buzzed him first; he did stick with the character, a complete imbecile; I woke up this morning and said how could it get any worse and decided only if he took his clothes offSharon – asked if he had a diaper on under his shorts (answer was yes)My Grade - C

Kaya and Sadie – “want to put belly dancing on the map” and added two male dancers to help; I don’t like belly dancing so this was a useless effort in my opinionHowie – you’re going to Hollywood (which is where they already are); I wasn’t judging, I was just watchingPiers – thank you for restoring our appreciation for the beauty of human flesh; I found both your bellies extremely charming; may you go a long waySharon – fantastic and very entertainingMy Grade – B+

Jeffrey Van Schoonoven – his wire-wire bicycle act is electrifying due to its risk; he does the last half of his act blindfolded, jumping from one small support to the next; this is a winnerHowie – you ratchet it up every time to make it more dangerousPiers – you are dangerous, exciting, unpredictable; you are a natural crowd-pleaser who has made me like what you doSharon – fantastic, the new Evel KnievelMy Grade - A

Debra Romer – singer/guitarist who sings with a smile this time even though the music is soulful and mournful; she has a terrific voice and, supported by backup singers, produces a real soundHowie – America loves you; you are definitely better on not showing nervousnessPiers – I have just watched a young woman who looked like a star and sang like a star; you are a starSharon – you should be very proud of the confidence you displayed; vulnerable, sexy, sweet simultaneously; the camera loves youMy Grade - A

Studio One Young Beast Society – 8 dancers who synchronize well with high-energy music along with some gymnastic movesHowie – you brought it; the best dance performance he has seenPiers – you just ended on a brilliant highSharon – we’ve seen many dance groups but few have shown personalitiesMy Grade – A-

So, I think Jeffrey van Schoonoven and Debra Romer are in and either Studio One Young Beast Society will be in the first 3 places. The other will compete will either Harmonica Pete, HASPOP, or Kaya and Sadie for that coveted 4th place.

I enjoy comparing my predictions to how the results actually come in, even though I am frequently way different from the AGT5 voters in my assessment of talent. How did I do for the 3rd quarterfinal round. Better than average:

The first grouping is HASPOP, CJDippa and South Philly Vikings. This is a no-brainer going to HASPOP since the other two were awful.

The second grouping was Studio One Young Beast Society (SOYBS), Chipps Cooney and Polina Volchek. Another no-brainer to SOYBS.

the third grouping was Debra Romer, the Strange Familiar and Luigi Seno. It's obvious Luigi was out, but I rated Debra A and Strange Familiar A-. Debra won and my hot streak is alive.

The final grouping had Harmonica Pete eliminated (one more no-brainer) before focusing on Jeremy Van Schoonoven (who I rated A) vs. Kaya and Sadie (who I rated B+). Jeremy got both Sharon's and Piers' vote so Howie's favoritism to Kaya and Sadie never actually was put to a vote. I had a perfect score on these results, selecting all 4 of the winners. I can't remember the last time that happened.

Most of my errors are typos and not genuine spelling errors but in the case of Maricar and Pierre they were spelling errors. Any time you or anyone else thinks they can do a better job than me on recaps, they are welcome to try, so I challenge you to do that next week. I do appreciate your feedback on my spelling errors, which have been fixed. Getting two names wrong (maybe there was even 3 or 4) out of close to 200 is not bad performance. Also, perhaps you can put your time and effort to add value by doing the AGT6 recaps. Then I can criticize your spelling, which may be perfect but probably won't be.

redwings8831, I wasn't kidding about doing the recap for next week's fourth of 4 quarterfinal rounds. I will be unable to either see it or write about it next week and possibly for the first semifinal round the following week. I do expect to be back around August 17 and will catch up on viewing and recaps then.

I want to provide an analysis that should best be done after next Wednesday evening's results show, but it cannot wait due to my extended unavailability starting one day earlier. So here is the list of the 12 Tuesday night live acts which will not be part of this analysis and the group they were rated into:

In this group of 12 were 7 from original group A, 3 from group C and 2 from group B, who had the most difficult road to get to the quarterfinals.

So I am going to go back to the original grouping decisions of the judges into A (guaranteed the opportunity to perform in Las Vegas), B (would get that opportunity if originally A rated acts left room by being not good enough) and C (skipping the Las Vegas performances and going directly to the quarterfinal rounds in Hollywood) to see what happened to the already performed in the quarterfinals 36 acts:

The mathematics of the groupings showed that 26 of 50 Group A acts made it to the Hollywood quarterfinal round, or 52%. Of the 19 shown above, 6 of them, or 32% actually did make from there to the semis, but only 12% of the original group did.

The mathematics of group B was that 11 of 28 acts, or 39% made it to the Hollywood quarterfinal rounds. The ones performing in the first 3 parts of the quarterfinals were:

Of the 9 acts above, 3 made it to the semis, or 33%. That give the original group B 11% making it to the semis, only slightly lower than for group A despite the greater hurdles for group B.

Group C has 3 acts yet to perform in the 4th quarterfinal round. Of the original other 7, here is what happened to them:

CheerSF- out (they were a figment of Piers and Howie's joint imagination in terms of talent)Fighting Gravity - to semisFuture Funk - to semisHaspop - to semisKaya and Sadie - outPolina Volchek - outSouth Philly Vikings - out

So far out of those 7 acts, 3 of them made it, or 42%, the best percentage of all the groups when compare against the second round percentages of 32% for Group A and 33% for group B. I would have guessed that Group C would have done quite a bit better given their edge of being the supposedly best acts. Why didn't that happen? It was because Piers and Howie let their eyes run away from them with CheerSF, Kaya and Sadie and Polina Volchek. If they hadn't the edge for Group C over A and B would have been much more decisive. I also have no idea where their minds were when selecting South Philly Vikings as a Group C act.

Somewhere on this thread was an analysis that I did after the YouTube.com preliminary round chowed. It will get an airing on August 7. I rated all acts I saw but they need a new look based on only their second performance (and first at Hollywood). Here is what I saw:

Plutronics - a cappella group that sounded less good this time our - my grade C

Dylan Plummer - dancer who was injured and should not have attempted to performed - my grade B-

Pup and Owener - pup was a very nice dog trained to pull a lever to put something out on an accordion; technical difficulties made it impossible for them to compete ; my grade N/A

It's time to take a comprehesive look at the final group of 20, 4 from each Quarterfinal plus 4 from the YoubeTube sepcial competition group. Here are my top 3 in terms of originality of the acst or or perfection of the performance:

ArcAttackFighting GravityJackie Evancho

The AGT5 judges are overly enamored of HASPOP, a very good performer but not super superspecial.

Others I like not not enough to rate them at the top group are Ascendance. These could be the top 5. We'll see.

Last week I said that the final group of 20 semifinalists had been reached with the addition of 4 from the YouTube.com performance group, but I was wrong. The judges got a second opportunity for selected performers and 4 of 12 will take advantage of it to reach a semifinal group of 24. This is called the Wild Card Round. Here is goes:

Kruti Dance Academy - promoting classical Indian dance, obviously not a big favoriten of the American public, I predict they will go down in flames with my Grade of B-

Rudi Macaggi - his last performance would be difficult to top and he did not come close. He insted went for a very difficult backflip into the ropes that help him upside down and 8 feet up. I awarded him a grade a B-

CJ Dippa - A decent performance for an 11 year old, but nothing special, grade of B-

RNG - the youth corps had nothing to offer but smoke and mirrors Grade C

Harmonica Pierre - Piers Morgan is an excellent evaluator of talent usually, but when the performer is Harmonica Pierre he goes off the deep end. My Grade B

Michael Grasso - the first really super performance, he won me over to think that he is a major talent Grade A

Anna and Patryk - they do a really brilliant (for their age of 11) flamenco dance with Howie claiming that he believes Patryk has tken over leading the group Grade A

The entertainment for this show was 2 astonishing Houdini repeats by Criss Angell and a "who put this crap on my TV screen " number by Leann Rimes. The real reason for this episode was to announce the results for 3 remaining semi-final slots and then have the judges fight to decide who got the 5th (20th overall) one. My predictions were Michael Grimm, Connor Doran and his double kite, Anna and Patryk and Michael Lipari/Ashleigh Dijon aerialists.

That left 3 for the last spot picked by the judges:Harmonica PierreMicahel Lipari/Ashleigh DijonDoogie Horner

It should be no surprise that Harmonica Pierre, the biggest lightweight in the competition at that point, was eliminated by the audience. Sharon voted for her pick as expected and Piers for his act Doogie Horner. It wa all up to Howie, who chose Micahel Lipari/Ashleigh Dijon to go to thte semis.